


Cats, Dogs, and Horses, Oh my!

by AceStuckInSpace



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gays with cats, Lance has an active imagination, M/M, Slow Burn, animal shelter au basically, gays with dogs, highschool au too, its gays, volunteering makes you gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-09-02 02:50:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8648854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceStuckInSpace/pseuds/AceStuckInSpace
Summary: Lance volunteers at a ranch shelter and the moody kid who lives there Keith is going to take some warming up too





	1. Welcome to the Ranch

**Author's Note:**

> Ok it starts off slow-ish but I swear it gets better  
> also I'm still trying to improve in my writing so let me know what I should do to fix things

Lance stood there staring at the wooden sign looming overhead reading: Altea Ranch: Kennels and Stables VOLUNTEERS WELCOME. Today was his first day volunteering, he had talked to the owner, a man named Takashi Shirogane aka Shiro, over the phone, who had promised to have someone show Lance the ropes and his jobs and introduce him to all the animals, Lance would be lying to say he wasn't nervous. The ranch was set up with the entrance being a dirt road leading to the two buildings, one for cats and another for dogs, which from the outside looked like fairly large and long buildings with outside areas caged in with mesh wiring. Farther to the left of the kennels stood a huge barn, presumably the horse part of the ranch.  Lance began to make his way towards the first building, shaking with each step. He loved all animals, and was great with them so really he had nothing to worry about right? He told himself. Then the anxiety set in. _What if the volunteer doesn't like you. What if you mess up. What if the dogs don't like you. What if they-_ his mind stopped once the door creaked open and he was met with a German Shepard knocking him off his feet. He began laughing as the dog began slobbering all over his face. Lance reached up and began to scratch at the dogs neck causing shedding hairs to fall. 

A loud whistle echoed through the halls followed by a male voice, "Pretzel!" The German Shepard, Pretzel, immediately whipped her head around and bounced off of her victim and made her way to someone else. Lance propped himself up and wiped the drool off his face. Once Lance finally got a look at the boy, he seemed familiar. _Pale, blue eyes, black mullet.._ Lance listed the features in his head, _he's missing his red jacket today, he's just got a black shirt. I could've sworn that jacket was just a part of him. It's Keith...something that starts with a K_. The two were in the same grade, and shared a lot of classes but most importantly: P.E., Lance's best subject, yet one guy always bested him. It started to piss him off at first, but he learned to live with it since they were pretty evenly matched in most sports and it just made class more fun. Keith made his way over to Lance and held out a hand, gloved as usual. "You ok? Pretzel gets excited by new people," he still wore his usual emotionless face, like his eyes could pierce any surface and could see into your soul. Lance grabbed the outstretched and Keith yanked him to his feet. 

"Nah it's all good, I've been trapped under a Saint Bernard before," Lance waved his hands in a 'don't worry about it' motion. 

"Are you Lance?" Keith asked turning away, beginning to stride towards one room. The way the building was set up was interesting for a kennel. When you first enter there are  two rooms, the first looked like a sort of office and the other..a therapy room? I _t's probably for adoptions idiot._  


Lance smiled cheekily, "yep Lance McClain. And are you Keith?" Lance walked inside more and finally got a good look at the entire shelter. Along the left were a set of large rooms, each having a dog door to an outside play area that Lance remembered seeing from the outside. Dog toys were scattered along the floor in the center of the main room, 3 smaller dogs were out playing and fighting. Along the right were four rooms, each with labels: _kitchen, vets, quarantine_ , and the farthest one just had a keep out sign pasted on the door. 

Keith opened up the fifth door and whistled. Pretzel perked up from her spot and bolted inside the room. "Yeah, did my brother tell you I'd be training you?"

"No, but we go to the same school," Lance pointed out. By this point Keith had made his way back to the middle of the room and scooped up a small black dog with short hair and held it across his chest with one arm. The dog just stayed obediently as Keith made his way to the first door. 

Keith, seeming to have not heard Lance (or was just ignoring him) began to speak, "could you grab Butters for me, he's the shaggy tan one with the short tail." Lance did as instructed and came to Keith, dog in hand. Keith nodded and Lance let Butters loose into the kennel. "Wait a sec, I'll deal with the last one. He nips." Lance stood there watching as Keith worked with the dog, he went and grabbed the pooch with no hesitation even as the dog growled and tried to take off one of his fingers. The small dog yipped wildly and he just glared, "oh shut up you're like 3," Lance heard him mutter to the little dog. Keith quickly made his way to the same door and let loose the small black dog. He then turned back to Lance, "as a volunteer your job is to feed the dogs, make sure the water is full, change bedding, cleaning up accidents, and socialization." He strolled over to the kitchen and walked through, holding the door open behind him allowing Lance to follow in. The kitchen was small, probably just because of all the stuff crammed in it. To one side was a refrigerator, standing next to a long counter covered in papers, charts, all seeming to be feeding schedules. An old metallic sink was filled with piles of dirty dog dishes, next to it a run down dishwasher. A pile of beds and towels sat opposite the fridge next to a single table surrounded by three plastic folding chairs, and a black backpack lied on the floor next to it.  _Gee this place it's kind of a dump, must not have many people to help out, just needs some Lancing up,_  Lance thought to himself.  "This is our kitchen, not the best but it works. Wet food is in the first cupboard, special food is in the fridge but you won't be dealing with that, all open dry bags of food are in the second cupboard," he opened up each cabinet as he listed things off, "if you run out of anything just tell me. Third cabinet is for clean dishes, top shelf water bowls, bottom shelf food dishes." Lances brain was just about spinning in circles from his long lists, but he still couldn't take his eye off the boy in front of him. At school Lance knew nothing about this guy, he didn't talk to anyone, he ate lunch alone, just sits there with headphones in the whole day, he was a mystery. But now, he's talking about these things so openly, it was kind of strange just from what Lance was used to from the guy. 

\--------

"Nope. Not gonna happen," Keith groaned. He crossed his arm and stared up at his taller older brother standing in front of him. 

"Keith please, it's just one guy, he's your age, he's nice, he loves animals, just show him around and show him what we do here," Shiro begged, "come on I'm busy tonight. Plus you might be able to make a friend." Shiro smiled at him hopefully. Keith, still in high school, didn't make friends well. He always stayed away from people and came home as soon as possible. The two lived on a ranch, which functioned as a mix between horseback riding lessons, and an animal shelter mostly for cats and dogs. It was owned by Takashi Shirogami, a 25 year old with a responsibility for the ranch and his impossible adopted younger brother Keith. 

"I don't need friends I've got the animals and the vet staff. You just want to go out on a date," Keith huffed. Shiro face slowly changed  to a rosy pink complexion as he chuckled nervously. 

"Yeah you caught me," he grinned, rubbing he back of his neck out of nerve. "That's why I want the number one volunteer to show him around." 

"The only volunteer you mean," Keith glared. 

Shiro brought his hands together in front of himself, "Please Keith you know that your basically our only volunteer, this would really help out the shelter!"

Keith stood there pondering for a moment before harshly responding, "no. Change the day. Besides I'll scare him away right?"

Shiro swung lightly at Keith with a chuckle, "If you would open up for five seconds maybe you could make a friend." Shiro sighed, "fine, we'll go out another day, just please. Me and Matt-"

Keith interrupted him with a series of barfing noises, "fine I'll do it, just please, stop talking." Shiro's love life was the one topic Keith refused to talk about. Shiro had everything, good personality, caring, and (as Keith had over heard one girl call him) 'hot as a volcano on the sun.'

Shiro couldn't help but laugh as he began to walk away, "I've got to get ready, can you just wait in the shelter? It's a guy named Lance, he goes to your school and is in your grade..." His brother continued but Keith toned him out. What did he care just another school douchebag for him to ignore.. 

Here he was now, silent, nervous, but interested. Keith recognized this guy instantly, just not by name. He was the guy who tries way too hard in PE, the most flirtatious guy in the school, the guy who gets turned down the most, the guy everyone thinks they know. He was loud most of the time but usually stayed to his small group of friends. Keith personally hadn't even talked to him, but seeing him here was a change of pace. He turned to pick up a piece of paper from the cluttered counter and held it out for Lance, "I'm usually here, in the cats building, or out in the stables but if you need anything and you can't find me my number is here, Shiro's is here too in case that comes up, then our head vet Coran in case of a medical emergency. If you notice anything you can write a note and leave it on the table if it's somethin to do with the shelter itself, or adoptions, stuff like that but usually I'm here to answer that stuff." Keith returned the paper to its spot in the clutter and made his way back to the hallway and stopped by the second door, which was already propped open. He gestured towards the interior, and Lance peered inside. The center of the room was an examination and the perimeter of the room was lined with locked cabinets of medication. "The clinic," Keith said, "The vets are almost always here, if you notice anything wrong with an animal put the note in here, or just tell whoevers in here. Coran is the main vet but he's up in the stables right now. There are only animals that are recovering from surgery in here or with broken limbs so don't worry about this room." The two moved to the next room and inside sat kennels stacked on top of each other, not all were filled but a lot of them were. The second they entered a small dog raised up on two paws and barked. "This is isolation, for either new dogs, dogs with illnesses, or medical mysteries." The dog barked again, and Keith's eyes went soft. He sighed in defeat and opened the cage, and immediately out hopped a small collie pup and landed directly in Keith's arms. Lance smiled, _he looks almost cute but I guess anyone looks cute when you add a puppy._ Keith tried to hide his laughter as the dog bounced up his chest and began to lick his face. Lance laughed at the dog and in an attempt to hide his flushed cheeks, damn you teenage hormones. "Meet Snickers, she's about 6 months old," Keith said, scratching her under the chin. 

Lance reached over and scratched her behind the ear, "so whys she in here?" 

"Puke problem, this fluff ball can't keep her food down for some reason," Keith began to put the dog back in the cage then paused, he turned to Lance, "wanna hold her?" Lance nodded immediately and took hold of the dog, who let out a yip. He finally took a look at Keith and saw him smirking at the dog, _I don't think I've ever seen him smile Lance stop you barely know this dude don't get in too deep_. "You don't have to worry about feeding in here but it'd be nice if you cleaned up," Keith spoke as he began to walk out, "feel free to play with any of the dogs they don't get too much time with people just me and whoever wants to adopt usually." Lance put Snickers back and followed him to the final door, a window in the center of the door, and a sign just marked beware of dog. 

"I'm guessing I don't go in here?" 

Keith nodded, "never. This room is for me only. The dogs in here are wild and don't trust people." Lance peered into the window and saw multiple rooms, each containing a single dog. The rooms were well kept, and full of fresh supplies, _looks like he takes good care of them_. "That's it, the cat side of the ranch is basically identical, except instead of the last room being for dangerous cats, it's our laundry room. Feral cats have a separate place for housing, if you want to socialize them go ahead but don't blame us if you get hurt." He crossed his arms and sighed, "you can start working today, I'll be in the kitchen if you have questions." Keith walked away and began to make his way back to the kitchen area. 

"Wait just one question!" Lance yelled, making Keith pause. "Are you always here? Or do you ever do stuff for, Yknow fun?"

Keith sighed, "I'm the only person who feeds and cleans the dogs and cats places, and I have to help with horses. I don't exactly have the time to do anything else." _I'm lucky if I can get my homework done and I don't exactly have friends,_ he wanted to add, _and along with doing riding lessons you're lucky I have time to train you_. And with that he stayed silent for the rest of Lance's visit. Lance went through everything he was told to, but no words came from his "friend." G _od this guy is moody_ , Lance thought, _no wonder he doesn't have any friends._ As he was walking a dirty bed to the kitchen, a bell rang throughout the shelter.

"Keith?" The mans voice echoed through the cement hallway, "You weren't at home or the stable-" the guy was tall, with a dark haired buzz cut sort or style except the small bit of hair that swooped downwards covering his forehead. A long scar crossed over the bridge of his nose. The guy had a single mechanical arm, but was buff as hell. He carried in a single shopping bag as he closed the door behind him. His eyes shot open wide at the sight of the Cuban boy, "you must be Lance?" He placed the bag down and began to stride towards him. Lance nodded and the guy held out his mechanical arm for a handshake, and he smiled, "I'm Shiro, we met over the phone. It's nice to see you in person!" 

Lance paused momentarily and stared at the guy in a dumbfounded silence, he had imagined Shiro to be the typical tall skinny awkward guy, but that was the exact opposite of the truth apparently. "Likewise, great to meet you!"

Shiro moved his hands to his hips, "so where's Keith? Did he show you around? I hope he wasn't too introverted."

Lance laughed, "he showed me what to do and let me try out taking care of the dogs."

Shiro chuckled, "that's my brother, straight to the point then not another word," he smiled at Lance, "thank you for all your help today really. Would you like to stay for pizza?" 

\----------

The pizza finally arrived 15 minutes later, Shiro and Lance spent the time talking, yet Keith still hadn't left the kitchen. Shiro handed the box to Lance, "mind putting this in the office and getting Keith? I've got to get some drinks." 

"I got it," Lance said turning to the kitchen. As Shiro left, Lance swung the door open to the kitchen and the thing he saw shocked him. Textbooks and homework papers were scattered everywhere along the table, and on top of a chemistry book was Keith, fallen fast asleep, hair tangled everywhere around the table. He looked so peaceful, but it was freezing in the kitchen how was he not frozen wearing just a short sleeve shirt? Lance wondered. He slipped off his jacket and draped it over Keith's shoulders, covering his arms. Lance felt his cheeks grow warm, as he smiled and made his way out of the kitchen, pizza box still in hand. 

He and Shiro entered the hallway at the same time and Shiro tilted his head in confusion, "what happened to your jacket?"

And that's when Lance began to panic. _What were you doing this guy hates you and you give him your jacket????_ "Uhhh he was asleep and uh I-" Lance continued to fumble for a few minutes before being interrupted by Shiro doubling over in laughter. Lance shot him an icy glare. 

"Nothing nothing it's fine, it's probably better we let him sleep," Shiro sighed, "he doesn't get any otherwise, that's usually when he does school work." He motioned for Lance to follow him to the office and he began to put down plates, "he's not the best at making friends if you couldn't tell, so just try and get to know him before you judge him ok?" 

\-----

"Uuuugh," Keith lifted his head drowsily. _What am I doing? Last thing I remember I was doing homework and- HOLY CRAP ITS NIGHT_ Keith looked up at the clock and immediately felt awake. He jolted up from his chair and felt a jacket jump along with him. He looked downward towards his clothes, _I wasn't wearing my- wait._. "This isn't my jacket." It was olive green, with a white hood. The jacket was extremely long, and it draped down to his thighs. **Lance,** hisnamerang through Keith's mindlike sirens. Keith walked out to the shelter and found the empty hallways. "Ugh where's my stupid brother," he groaned. Keith made his way to the front door and strolled over to the cat building, upon opening the door he found his brother holding a black kitten in his arms. 

"Morning sleeping beauty, have a nice nap?" Shiro smiled, still scratching the small kitten. 

Keith glared at his brother, "I hate you."

"But you don't hate Lance so far," Shiro teased. 

"It's just a jacket!" Keith was getting angry and defensive. 

He snickered, "then why haven't you taken it off yet?"

A long groan echoed through the hallway as realization struck Keith, "I have to give this back to him at school don't I..."


	2. Keith can talk but only when insulting Lance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gotta go to school eventually, which is difficult for Keith the insomniac

The next day came, and the next day Keith panicked. He spent most of his night with one of the cats, so his sleepless night continued as usual despite his 4 hour nap the previous day. "Morning champ, sleep well?" Shiro asked. He stood over their home kitchen counter, bowl of cereal in hand. Their home was somewhat small for being on a ranch, three rooms and a kitchen with a dining room attached. A groan came from the dark haired mess just entering the kitchen. Despite being fully dressed for school, Keith had dark circles formed under his eyes and a beanie pulled over his messy hair.   
"I hate everything," The mess groaned, walking to their fridge, pulling out a cold packet of microwaveable bacon. The time was blinking from their microwave which sat next to the fridge, 6:00 A second groan came out as Keith sat down with his cold and collapsed onto their granite counter top. "AH COLD!" He squealed popping back up with so much force he almost tipped the stool all the way back, "why does everything hate me..."  
Shiro laughed, "you ready for school?" He scooped a spoonful into his mouth and began to crunch. He spoke through the food, "Yknow I can drive you today if you want."  
However it instead came out as a muffled jumble of "m" sounds. "I don't speak cereal, Shiro, one more time in English please?" He began to pick out the cold pieces and started to chew. "Actually, don't I've got to get my stuff from the dogs." He grabbed a few pieces from the box and made his way out, "I've got 15 minutes, you know where I'll be." He waved his hand just before shutting the door behind him. He shuffled through the dirt, kicking through it in his dark boots, knocking up clouds of dust. He made his way to the second building, and swung open the door. The inside was freezing, as usual. He walked to the veterinary room and spotted a vet inside, sitting in front of a computer towards the back corner of the room. The man inside wore a sweatshirt and a pair of grey sweats, he had bright orange hair and a bushy moustache to match.   
The man waved, and spoke with a Scottish accent, "Mornin' Keith! Thanks for staying with Tilly last night, her kittens are right as rain!" He gestured to the cage on the opposite side of the room. Keith strolled inside and walked to the small set of metal cages and bent down to the one closest to the ground. Inside, Tilly, a light tan fluffy Siamese, was lying down breathing heavily as she was surrounded by 4 smaller snoozing kittens. Keith grinned, he loved this part of his job: helping make miracles. In this case 4 little miracles.   
"Well she did most of the hard work, and she did great last night! Plus the kittens came at about 1-ish right? An hour later they were right as rain!" He turned to Coran and smiled, "thanks for everything! Have you named them?"   
Coran slipped on a white lab coat and chuckled, "I just have them numbered, but if you want to name them, be my guest!"  
Keith turned back to the kittens and pointed to the smallest one, "I'm gonna call her Lacey, I'll leave the rest for Shiro or Lance." He stopped and stood up, "remind me to introduce you to our new volunteer." He took a glance at the time on the monitor and his eyes widened, "CRAP IM GONNA BE LATE!" He sprinted out of the cat house and bolted into the dog house, making his way to the kitchen. He snatched up his backpack and shoved everything from the table inside of it. The dogs barked from his entrance and Keith hollered back at them as he was leaving, "Someone will feed you I swear!!" Just as he was beginning to run, a yank from his hoodie stopped his momentum. "Shiro I kinda have to leave," he snarled before turning to face his brother.   
Shiro raised an eyebrow, "if you listened to me this morning you would've heard me say I can drive you today, I'm going into town we're out of litter," he shrugged and smiling knowingly, "So now you've got time to feed the dogs." Keith groaned and turned around. As he was working he began to get nervous, animals were easy work for him but people were a different story.   
\----  
The first few periods came and went, until lunch came around. Keith got his tray and filled it with his lunch. As he was heading through the cafeteria, he spotted Lance and his two friends laughing at their usual table. It was strange seeing him without his usual jacket. Instead he wore a gray long sleeve shirt and jeans, but it looked off. Keith sighed, now or never right? He changed directions and walked to the table. All three stopped to stare at him. He placed his tray down and swung his backpack down to the bench. He dug through and pulled out the jacket, "you forgot this yesterday."  
\----  
Lance stared blankly at the jacket, as all ability to speak English left his body. His mind flipped into Spanish as his thoughts raced. Hunk and Pidge just looked at Lance dumbfounded. Keith was in a beanie, and a black sweatshirt with red stripes, a set of headphones wrapped around his neck. What do I do he looks cute and I've barely talked to him, he forced a smirk through his panic. "Thanks.." He fumbled. Idiot. Keith nodded and lifted his backpack back over a shoulder and began to walk away. Hunk watched his best friend tear himself apart, and an idea struck him. "Hey Keith wait!" He called. Keith stopped and glanced over his shoulder. "You wanna sit with us?"   
Pidge and Lance stared at Hunk, a whisper escaped Lance, "What are you thinking?!"  
A small chuckle escaped Keith, "I don't think I'm wanted, thanks though."   
Hunk smacked Lance, "no really! Please! I'm sure we'd all love to have you sit with us for today!"  
Pidge spotted Lance growing flustered and grinned maliciously, "yeah! We were getting bored with this loser anyways." He tilted his head towards Lance and shrugged. I could kill that little gremlin, Lance thought.   
Keith smiled, "sure, anyone that makes fun of Lance is a friend of mine." He placed his tray down and plopped down across the table from the three.   
Lance's mouth dropped, "e tu Keith. I just started talking to you!!"   
Keith shrugged, "what can I say?" Hunk and Pidge cracked up.  
The group spent the majority of lunch making fun of Lance, which no one besides Lance complained about. The bell rang for lunch to end, and their last class began, PE. All the kids sat lined up along a metal bench. As Lance entered the gym, most of the seats were open, but he spotted Keith sitting alone at the edge, his fingers typing vigorously on his phone."Yo Keith!" He walked up with his bag and shrugged, "mind if I sit next to you?" Keith scooted in without a single glance, and Lance smiled. He slid next to him and Keith payed him no attention. Lance began to zone out and stared at his face. Gee I really picked a talkative new friend huh, wonder why he's always so quiet... A whistle sounded from the teacher, coach Mcgarret. He wore his usual blue track suit and sneakers, as he dragged in a cart of volleyballs. "Alright today we start the volleyball unit! Who here knows how to play already?" He shouted. Not a single hand raised around him. Keith raised his hand absent-minded, his face still buried in his phone. Lance glared, he won't even look up??? What could be more important than class? Just rude. Lance raised his hand too, his family would take vacations to Hawaii every other year and he was the reigning champion among their family. "Ok for this unit since we don't have as many people who know what they're doing, most of you will be taught how to play," the coach began to pace in front of the Then at the end of the lessons the two experienced players will be captains. The two teams will play against one another. The winning team gets an automatic A for everything we did in the unit. The losing team will get individual scores based on skill and effort." The students were then separated into two groups each on opposite sides of the court, newbies and senior players. Everyone rose from the benches and divided into the two groups, leaving Lance and Keith were alone in their group. A cart of balls was on their side, Lance picked one up and began to juggle it back and forth between his hands, I wonder...   
"Hey mullet!" Lance yelled at the boy, who was leaning against the wall just typing on his phone. Keith looked up at him, slipping his phone in his pocket, a confused look on his face. "Think fast!" He yelled, chucking the volleyball at his face, top speed. Keith flawlessly set up the ball and caught it. He tossed it back to Lance lightly, then pulled out his phone again. Lance glared, gee can't this guy have a little fun. He walked over and stood next to him, and peered over his shoulder, "so who're you texting? You gotta giiiiiiirlfriiieeeend." He raised his eyebrows and grinned mischievously. Keith's cheeks began to turn pink. Lance gasped, "you were! You're blushing!!"  
Keith punched him in the arm, probably stronger than intended because it left a sting in his bicep. Keith glared, "That's because it's a weird question, idiot."  
Lance rubbed his arm, "doesn't mean you have to try and snap my arm is two, jeez how strong are you??"  
"Maybe you're just weak," Keith said, returning to his phone.   
Lance's jaw dropped, and he growled, "you're a jerk, yknow. A real jerk." Keith shrugged. All of a sudden a woman came into the gym and approached the coach. She whispered something to him and stood to the side.  
The coach nodded, "KOGANE," he yelled. Keith turned to him and slipped his phone back into his pocket. "You're leaving, pack it up."  
\----  
Keith left as quick as he could, and found Shiro waiting for him in the office. The two exchanged a silent nod, and made their way outside of the office building and off to their truck. They were silent until both slid into the seats. Keith sighed, "how bad is she?" All during his last period, Keith and Shiro had been texting back and forth about Tilly, the mother of four kittens. She had been weak for some time now, and she was fairly old for having kitten, so her passing wouldn't come as much of a surprise.   
Shiro frowned and shook his head. He stuck the keys in the ignition and began to drive, "Coran doesn't think she'll make it," he frowned. Keith sighed, Tilly was the nicest cat, a little shy at first, but all it took was patience.   
After their long silent car ride, the second Shiro pulled into their house's garage, Keith launched into action, sprinting to the cat house. He bolted inside, startling every cat in the place, and he stopped at the entrance to the tiny clinic. He stopped, eyes wide, panting heavily. There she was, the Siamese cat lay down the center of the metal table, a small iv connected to her leg, and a small tube pumping oxygen through her nose. Her heartbeat was racing, and her chest rose quickly. Keith couldn't take his eyes off of her. Up. Down. Up. Down. He looked to the two nurses standing around the cat, Coran and their other nurse Allura, both rushing around clipboards in hands. Allura looked to Keith and frowned, "she's not gonna be able to feed her kittens at all, she's in an unstable condition as is, if this spreads any farther then-"  
"I know," Keith interrupted. He sighed, "how about the kittens?"  
She smiled, "they're looking fantastic! See for yourself!" She walked inside and gestured to a metal cage with a small heat lamp inside set on low. "They've been fed recently, we noticed a while ago the strange discharges from Tilly when she let them feed, turns out she was much more malnourished than we thought, plus with her age..."  
Keith nodded, "should she survive?"   
Allura let out an even longer sigh, "well that's the bad news, we don't know. She's fighting this as much as she can, and we have her on constant painkillers, and we're trying to strengthen her immune system, but we can't be certain." He nodded again, then left without another word. Shiro stood outside, but Keith ignored him and continued past.   
"Hey champ..." He started. But Keith didn't stop.   
When he reached the door he finally spoke, "I'm going to get ready for the riding lesson. I'll be back at 4." He slammed the door behind him.   
Shiro sighed to himself, and ran his hand through his hair, "he's gonna have to find a better way to cope with this stuff besides denial."  
\---  
To most people, the stables smelled like the worst concoction of manure and sweat. But to Keith, that was the most comforting smell in the world. The stables felt like home, it was his own personal place. Sure he had a room, an actual house, with an actual kitchen, but the stables were filled with memories. For a place he lived in, Keith wasn't in his house very much. The floor was cement, but scatters of hay covered most of it. Along the sides, six wooden stables, each filled with a single horse. He walked along the stalls and peered at the painted wooden name plates and smiled. He made his way to the final stall, with the name "Storm" in wooden letters along the swinging door. The letters were each painted with pictures of storms and other weather accidents. He stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a bag of carrots. Wow I can see why people think I'm so weird, he thought to himself, I guess it's not really normal to carry around mini carrots in your pocket. He ignored the thought, and directed his attention back to the anxious horse begging for a carrot. He began to stroke Storm's forehead lightly. She nuzzled him and Keith giggled, "aww girl, I missed you too." The two had a history, he was there for her birth after all, and she was his favorite horse to ride. He poured a few small carrots into his palm and held them to her, the grey horse chomped on them quickly. Keith laughed as her lips tickled his hand. He began to pat her neck lightly, "you wanna ride?" The horse whinnied in response, and Keith couldn't help but smile.   
\-----  
Shiro stood behind the fence of the paddock and watched his brother ride around bareback on his favorite horse. He sighed to himself, lost in thought. He rested his head in his hands and watched Keith, hurdle after hurdle. He was oblivious to the short figure walking up next to him. "Hey Shiro!"   
Shiro about fell face first into the mud, he looked beside him at the smiling man, short with glasses, and light brown hair ruffled at the bottom. Shiro laughed, "Matt come on! Don't scare me like that!" Matt popped up and pecked his cheek and Shiro spoke with another chuckle, "what're you doing here? Not like I don't like seeing you here."  
Matt laughed and shrugged, "what? Cant a guy just pay a visit to his boyfriend? Besides," he smirked, "I've never actually met Keith before, as much as you've told me about him." Matt looked out at the paddock and watched Keith skillfully gallop around, jumping over logs and fences as makeshift hurdles.   
"He does riding lessons, so he better be good," Shiro smiled, eyes fixed on his brother.   
Matt raised an eyebrow, "oh he takes lessons?"  
Shiro let out a laugh, "he teaches lessons."  
\---  
School ends, and volunteering begins for Lance. The ranch wasn't far from home, so the second day his mom had him walk. The stroll was nice, refreshing even. It gave Lance time to himself, away from his crowded home. What was Keith's deal today, he thought kicking a small rock in front of him and watching it tumble in front of him, just a buzzkill. He stuck his hands in his pocket and began to bite the inside of his cheek, well he could've been doing something important don't be so quick to jump like you always are. He mentally slapped himself, way to go Lance. He finally reached the ranch and was about to head inside when something caught his eye, a grey horse racing around being ridden by his new friend. He walked up to the fence and rested his hands on the highest bar, and let his head rest in his hands. "Cute...." He muttered to himself, watching Keith bounce up and down laughing, his long mullet flowing behind him yet still covered by his beanie. Lance couldn't keep his eyes off him, imagining a fairytale prince bounding around like this. His eyes were soon met with Keith's and their eyes locked, as the horse slowed down. Lance lifted his head from his hands and began to grin, he stood up tall and waved wildly above his head. He could see Keith chuckle lightly and give a small wave with an equally small smile in return. Lance felt a flutter in his stomach, that was a genuine smile....a genuine, adorable smile... It took him a second to snap back to reality, and by the time he did Keith was trotting over to him. The butterflies in his stomach began to multiply, damn you teenage hormones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, I got busy with school and holidays, just hope it's worth it!!  
> I'm still learning with writing so criticism is welcome  
> Feel free to scream at me on tumblr on Ace-wiz


	3. Lance has a little crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith get to hang out a little more

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay first, I'm sorry I didn't write for a while! A lot of crap happned but I'm free more now so I should get another chapter up within the week! Second, I swear it gets gayer this is just kinda fluff-ish buildup

"Hey Lance," Keith called from atop the horse, "if you want to get started inside go ahead. I have lessons." Storm began to nudge Lance's face, and he snickered. 

"Nice horse," he said beginning to stroke her forehead, "never figured you knew how to ride."

Keith smirked, "teach lessons actually, this beauty does a lot of the work though. Now if you'll excuse me." He turned around and began to speed up, "I'll be in after it's over." And Lance didn't take his eyes off Keith until he was completely out of sight.  _Ah shit,_  he thought, _I got it bad_. He walked up to the kennels and sighed, "better get my mind off it with some cute animals." As he swung open the door he was about to begin his job in the cat area when he was met with a bright orange mustache knocking him directly to the floor straight on his ass. He groaned, "Is this just gonna be what happens every time I come here."

The man jumped, "Sorry about that! I was in a hurry for some help, and though I could snatch Keith before his lesson. But you'll do!" Lance took a minute to process everything the possibly Scottish man was saying. "You are the rookie volunteer right?" Not giving Lance the chance to answer he grabbed his hand and began to shake it wildly, "I'm Coran, one of the vets here! You'll meet Allura in a minute but let's chop to it shall we!"

"Actually I-" he began to protest, but Coran had turned and bolted away 

\-----------

Keith began to head back inside the kennels, he scanned the dog area for Lance, but he was met with the usual sight of an empty hallway. He sighed, and checked the cat area, hearing some voices in the med room he went to take a glance. He might as well have stopped dead in his tracks at the sight. Lance stood there over the cage of kittens and in his arms was the smallest one sucking gently on a tiny bottle as he gently rubbed his thumb against its side, and the look on Lance's face was so full of fondness and his eyes had softened. His eyes were slightly shut as his full attention was trained on the small bundle of fluff.  _If only the sight could last forever_ , he thought. 

"Ah! Keith! What happened to the lesson?" Coran said from the swivel chair sitting in front of the computer. 

"Hm?" Keith said only having half listened to the question, "oh the mom called and said they'd be an hour late. Thought I'd come and help out." 

Lance looked up at him and in the process, stopped scratching the small kitten and it squeaked at him. A small laugh escaped through his breath, "sorry princess." Lance carefully took the empty bottle from her and placed her back with her siblings. He placed it down on the metal table, "hey Coran would you mind washing this one off for me? I probably need to get to work."

"No problem! Thanks for the help Lance, did me a solid!" Coran said grabbing the small bottle. Keith headed out with Lance behind him, who waved as he left. Keith headed down to the quarantine area, slightly hoping Lance would follow. He was relieved to see the green jacket pop up next to him as he stopped at the first cage. 

"Whose this guy?" Lance asked looking at the cage with an orange tabby asleep facing away from the front, "new arrival?"

Keith smiled and opened up the cage door, the cats head popping up at the noise. A small gasp escaped Lance. The cats one eye was wide open, a dull yellow color. "Meet one eyed Jack. Or just Jack for short." The cat meowed loudly, and stood up and took a step towards Keith. He began to scratch Jack around the neck, who continued to brush himself up against Keith's hand and head butting everything in sight. "We got him in a week ago actually, he had gotten an eye infection which his owners never helped payed to get treated. It got so bad that his eye had to be removed, and then his jackass owners decided they didn't want him." At this point Jack head butted Keith and was purring loudly in a demand for attention. "And honestly I say good riddance, they don't deserve him. Hell I'd adopt him he's so sweet." He shuffled over to let Lance meet him. "If you want you can just socialize today. I'm fine doing the rest."

Lance had began to pet the orange tabby, "no way. I'm gonna split the work. That's what I came for ykno-" he was interrupted by a swift nudge to the mouth from Jack. He spit out a few hairs and wiped his mouth. Keith couldn't help it as much as he tried to hold back a laugh, it escaped. "Hey," Lance said with a suspicious tone, "I bet I can clean a room faster than you." He raised one eyebrow as he closed a cage, "I clean up after 4 younger siblings every day so you don't stand a chance."

Keith returned the look, "I've been doing this for over 4 years now. The only chance you have is a chance to lose."

"Oh yeah? Then how about a bet?" Lance grinned. 

"I don't think you realize we've got literally nothing to bet with." 

"Then a favor!" A skeptical look crossed Keith's face. "No no really! Winner can ask the loser to do whatever they want."

Keith shrugged, "you're on."

\----

"Aw what? I totally had you that time!" Lance whined finally coming out of the final room to see Keith having come out seconds before, brushing off the remaining bits of dog hair from his black shirt. Lance walked to the piece of paper they had tacked up in the hallway and pulled out a pencil from his jacket pocket. The paper just had a T chart on it, one side said Keith the other side Lance. He put one tally under Keith, bringing Keith up to 5, and Lance back at 3. "Come on!"

"I told you," he shrugged, "you were fighting a losing battle." 

Lance walked over to Keith, "I want a rematch!" He fiddled with the pencil for a moment while he thought, until his eyes widened with excitement, "how about every five is a favor!"

"Why not, I've got nothing to lose." Lance punched him in the arm. "Jerk."

"Mullet head"

"String bean"

"Emo phase"

"I'm gonna stop this before it gets any stupider," he signed shaking his hands, as he walked towards the kitchen. 

Lance jogged to catch up with him, "can't get any stupider, you're here." 

Keith rolled his eyes, "ha ha ha, very funny. Do you want something?" He said turning into the kitchen. Keith opened the fridge and pulled out a Coca-Cola. He stared at Lance waiting for a response. 

"Got any Pepsi?" Lance asked hopefully. 

"Is rootbeer ok?" Lance nodded. A can was tossed in his direction as Keith rose from the fridge. The two opened their cans and looked to eachother. "Cheers." The two chugged. 

"Hey Keith," he placed down the soda and looked to his friend across the way. Keith began to take a drink. "You're like this rootbeer, soda-licious." Lance held up a pair of finger guns and winked at Keith. Keith about snorted up his drink. His face turned redder than his usual jacket as he choked up his drink. He began to laugh his head off, clutching his sides as he bent over from the pain in his sides. 

"That. Was. So. Dumb." He spoke through heavy breaths, gasping for air. He wasn't the only one, Lance was in the middle of dealing with his own emotions and thoughts. _I can't deal with this it should be illegal to be this cute I can't deal with it._  


Lance pouted, "it wasn't that bad, any normal person would've fallen for it in a second."

"Is that why you don't have a girlfriend?" Keith taunted. 

"First, who says it has to be a girlfriend. Second, I only flirt with the best so excuse you!" Lance said without thinking. He stopped and mentally crossed every possible finger and toe hoping Keith took it as a joke. The door opened quickly and Lance immediately broke eye contact, hoping to let his blushing face cool down.  _Shiro_ , he thought,  _thank god for Shiro._  

"Hey Keith, you in the mood for Chinese-" Shiro stopped. "You're still here? It's past 8 shouldn't your mom have picked you up, or… something?"

Lance's eyes widened, he looked out the window and sure enough it was pitch black. He pulled out his phone, 8:17, 15000 messages from his mother. He groaned, "I'm so dead." He looked to the two standing there, "sorry I'll never get to help you guys again, my mother is literally going to end my life." 

Shiro laughed and placed his hand on Lance's shoulder and smiled comfortingly. "It was nice knowing you." Keith snorted. Lance glared at him. Shiro chuckled, "sorry couldn't help it, I'm sure it will be fine. Why didn't she just drive to pick you up?"

"Oh," he frowned, "I have to walk here."

"You what????" Keith yelled. "Our property is 6 acres! Are you crazy!"

Lance began to rub his arm, "my family is big, everyone is busy, and I don't really mind anyways." He sighed, "look Shiro I'm really sorry for this, I should probably head home."

Keith looked to Shiro and back to Lance. "Stay over." 

Lance stopped, "what? No I couldn't."

"It'd be better if you did, I wouldn't feel right letting you walk home in the dark. You're welcome to stay over Lance."

"It's fine really I can walk! Don't worry about it okay-" Lance started. 

"You're staying," Keith interrupted, "end of discussion."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope that was worth it! As always feel free to yell at me here or on tumblr as Ace-wiz  
> Also the cats I mention in this are real cats! I volunteer at a place called Feild haven in California, which rescues strays and takes in cats when their owners don't want them or can't take care of them! One eyed Jack is completely real and adoptable. All the things I write about him as are my own personal experiences.   
> http://www.fieldhaven.com/RP_AdoptMe.asp?aid=7572  
> If you would like to see more about him and what he looks like!

**Author's Note:**

> Ill update it soon, theres gonna be a LOT more to come  
> feel free to yell at me here or on tumblr: Ace-wiz


End file.
